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Hollinger Corp. 
pH8.5 



63d Congress { 
2d Session \ 



SENATE 



f Document 
\ No 253 



IiNITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 
IN SWITZERLAND 



JF 493 
.S9 V7 
Copy 1 



A MEMORIAL 



RELATIVE TO THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM 
IN SWITZERLAND 



BY 



CARL S. VROOMAN 






PRESENTED BY MR. OWEN 
DECEMBER 3, 1913.— Ordered to be printed 



WASHINGTON 
1913 













' !9!8 



THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 



By Carl S. Vrooman. 



The personality of Switzerland, like that of Italy, is unique. 
But while the all-pervasive and dominant influence south of the 
Alps is that of art, in the little Kepublic to their north the omni- 
present, evercreative national spirit is the spirit of democracy. 
Upon entering its borders the observant traveler finds himself lifted 
into an atmosphere of intellectual liberty, political equality, and 
social justice. In fact, the work of this " political experiment sta- 
tion of the world " is of such incomparable importance that a first- 
hand knowledge of its methods and institutions has become as in- 
valuable to the student of politics as is a personal acquaintance with 
the masterpieces of Italian paintings to the student of art. 

Among the institutions in operation there, the most important is 
the initiative and referendum — a system of direct popular control of 
the lawmaking power, which has been adopted elsewhere to a lim- 
ited degree. Its results have attracted the attention of students the 
world over, and tempted travelers to a more than passing inquiry. 
Many a tourist has turned amateur investigator, and converted, as I 
did, his Swiss sojourn into something of a political pilgrimage. 

The referendum is in the air and you can not escape it. You 
meet it at every turn ; you hear of it in the restaurants, on steamship 
docks, in the railroad trains. Almost every chance acquaintance has 
at least a word to say regarding it. It was but a few hours after I 
had unpacked my luggage at Lucerne that I began to hear of it and 
its benefits. Next to me at the table d'hote dinner sat a big raw- 
boned Texan and beside him a small Swiss gentleman with a pointed 
beard. Their conversation bore upon this interesting institution, 
which my compatriot was by no means sure could be adopted with 
profit by the United States. 

" I reckon this referendum, as you call it, may work all right in a 
little two-by-four country like yours," said the Texan, " but you 
needn't get puffed up on that account, and try to teach a country 
that can whip all Europe." 

" I hope you will not forget," replied the Swiss, " that my coun- 
try has a larger area than some of your States and a larger popu- 
lation than the average of them. Therefore, if the referendum has 
worked well in Switzerland, as everyone concedes it has, unless you 
can find some better objection than your unwieldy bulk, you must 
admit that it would work well in your separate States. We tried it 
first in two or three of our cantons, where it proved so successful 
that one by one the other cantons adopted it, and finally, when by 

S 



4 THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 

the unmistakable test of experience we had proved its incompara- 
ble merits, we adopted it for the nation. Try it in your States first, 
and have no fear it will win its own way in your Nation." 

" Perhaps I don't entirely understand the workings of this refer- 
endum," said the Texan. 

" I have figured it out," said a Yankee across the table. " You 
say you are a stock raiser. Suppose you were to tell your hired man 
to fence off a certain lot for the hogs, and he'd reply that he would 
do nothing of the kind. What would you do ? " 

" I'd discharge him, sir, in one-half minute, sir," said the south- 
erner. 

" Quite right. But, suppose a little later another farm hand, on 
being told to plant a certain field in cotton, were to plant it in oats, 
what would you say to that? " 

" I'd order him off my premises, sir." 

" But," continued the Yankee, " are not State representatives and 
Congressmen the servants of the people ? " 

"Assuredfy, sir," replied the Texan, anticipating the other's idea, 
" but in America, if our Congressmen pass a law which we do not 
like, or neglect to pass a law we want, we turn them down, sir, at 
the polls at the very next election." 

" Indeed ! " replied the Yankee, " but to go back to the farm hand, 
would you want him around your place for two years, squandering 
your money, neglecting your interests, disobeying and insulting you, 
before turning him down or knocking him down, as the case might 
be ? I think not. You need not wait till the next election to veto a 
measure you don't want or to get one that you do. It is very simple ; 
you merely go over the heads of your servants when they cease to 
observe your wishes. Why should the people wait until another elec- 
tion befure turning down such rascals as the members of the Legis- 
lature of Illinois, who in 1898 gave to Yerkes $25,000,000 worth of 
franchises in spite of the protests of nearly the whole Common- 
wealth? To defeat such men at the polls is to lock the door after the 
horse is stolen. This fatal political procrastination is only too com- 
mon in the United States. Take another example : Some years ago 
the United Gas Improvement Co., of Philadelphia, got control of the 
city council at a good fat figure, and was thus able to lease for 30 
years at an exceedingly lean and low figure the gas plant which the 
city had owned and operated for 56 years. This nauseating perform- 
ance was violently but ineffectually opposed b}^ every decent Ameri- 
can ' sovereign ' in the city. The referendum would have made such 
a steal impossible." 

" If that is the referendum and initiative, sir," said the Texan, 
" if it simply means being obeyed by our public servants, why. that 
is democracy, and you can count not only on me but on a 200.000 ma- 
jority for it in Texas as soon as our people have come to understand 
it. And mind you, what we are ready to vote for down there we are 
ready to fight for." 

" Don't, pray, let us even discuss such a thing," puffed a fat bishop 
from New York, who had overheard the conversation. " This would 
mean nothing less than ochlocracy. Representative government is all 
right, but this referendum means downright mob rule. It is un- 
American, it is unconstitutional and leads to anarchy." 



THE INITIATIVE AND [REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 5 

" Pardon me, sir," replied the Swiss, suavely, " but has it not been 
said : ' By their fruits ye shall know them ? ' Are you agreed to 
that?" 

" Yes," replied the bishop, stiffly. 

" Very well ; here are the facts : The referendum was opposed at 
first in Switzerland by the wealthy and the learned, the conservative 
and reactionary forces of society. To-day, after a trial of over a 
quarter of a century its chief opponents are the most radical Social- 
ists, who find the great body of the people too conservative in their 
movements. In fact, the Federal referendum has defeated more 
bills than it has passed. The referendum upon Federal statute laws 
was secured in 1874. From that date until 1913 the National Con- 
gress passed 273 measures of a general character, upon which the 
referendum could have been demanded. The referendum was actu- 
ally demanded upon only 31 of these laws, of which 12 were adopted 
and 19 rejected by the people. During this period 30 amendments 
to the Federal Constitution have been submitted to the people, of 
which 14 were adopted and 16 rejected. Do you see anything dan- 
gerous about that? " 

"Well, no — ah — of course; I was just — er— venturing an opinion. 
I have given the matter little study or thought. Perhaps there may 
be seme truth in what you say," and he waddled off wheezing and 
perspiring and — who knows — perhaps thinking. 

The referendum is not altogether new to the people of the United 
States. We use it in every State in the Union, except Delaware, 
when adopting or altering a State constitution. In 15 States the 
capital can not be changed, in 11 no law can be passed for incur- 
rence of debt not specified in the constitution, and in 7 no laws can 
be passed establishing banking corporations without recourse to 
the referendum. Many other States make the referendum compul- 
sory for a multitude of different kinds of legislation. The custom of 
referring to popular vote a proposition of a purely local nature, such 
as voting bonds to purchase a park, a light or water plant, to build 
schoolhouses, or what not, is very common in American cities and is 
the legislative referendum pure and simple. 

During the past 15 years the initiative and referendum have made 
such progress in American States and cities as to make of this move- 
ment toward effective democracy perhaps the most significant polit- 
ical fact of our time. By decisive majorities they have been made a 
part of the fundamental law of the land by the voters of South 
Dakota in 1898, Utah in 1900, Oregon in 1902, Nevada in 1905 and 
1912, Montana in 1906, Oklahoma in 1907, Maine and Missouri in 
1908, Arkansas and Colorado in 1910, Arizona and California in 1911, 
Nebraska, Idaho, Washington, and Ohio in 1912, and Michigan in 
1913. 

But while this record shows the widespread acceptance and tri- 
umph of the principle of popular sovereignty, it is just as well to 
remember that in the States of South Dakota, Maine, Montana, and 
Washington the people are not allowed the right to initiate amend- 
ments to their State constitutions, and that various " jokers " have 
been embodied in the South Dakota, Montana, and Oklahoma pro- 
visions for the initiative and referendum which have largely pre- 
vented the people of these States from making a successful use of 
these instruments of democracy. 



b THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 

Moreover, the fact must not be ignored that in several States the 
constitutional amendments for direct legislation have been so drawn 
as to give the people little real control, and in two cases absolutely 
no control, over their government. For example, in Utah and Idaho 
only the " general principle " of direct legislation was incorporated 
into the constitution, the details of the system being left to legisla- 
tive enactment. The result has been that for the past 13 years the 
Legislature of Utah has stubbornly refused to pass the necessary 
enabling act, and the people of that State have never been permitted 
the use of the initiative and referendum. In like manner, in Novem- 
ber, 1912, the people of Idaho passed a similar amendment, but the 
legislature, which met in January, 1913, refused to carry out the 
clearly understood mandate of the people. 

Thus far in the year 1913 the Legislatures of North Dakota, Wis- 
consin, and Texas have submitted amendments which will be voted 
on by the people at the general election of 1914, and the Legislature 
of Iowa has passed an amendment which, if indorsed by the legis- 
lature meeting in 1915, will be submitted to the people of that State 
in 1916. But, unfortunately, the Wisconsin constitutional amend- 
ment is the only one passed this year which can be regarded as an 
honest and effective effort to make practical use of the principle of 
the initiative and referendum. Such provisions as that in the 
Texas amendment, requiring a petition of 20 per cent of the voters 
in the State to invoke either the initiative or the referendum, is an 
absurdity upon the face of it, and practically renders the law inop- 
erative. 

However, in splendid contrast to some of these other States, Ore- 
gon, Colorado, Arkansas, California, and Arizona have provided 
for an intelligent and effective use of the initiative and referendum. 

The people of Illinois and of the other States which are thinking 
of adopting the principle of direct legislation are beginning to see 
clearly by this time that it is far better to have no legislation what- 
ever upon the subject than to pass a law so filled with restrictions 
and " jokers " that it would be of no use whatever as an instrument 
of democracy, and serve only to discredit the great principle of direct 
popular control of legislation. 

The movement toward real democracy has become so irresistible 
that the platforms of all political parties, except in the most reac- 
tionary States, contain planks demanding direct legislation. 

In the future the most pernicious enemies of democracy will be, 
not the open and honest opponents of this principle, but the crafty 
and unscrupulous political tricksters, who, with hypocritical and 
sonorous phrases on their lips, seek to betray the principle of initia- 
tive and referendum by slipping provisions into the law which either 
render it inoperative or render its operation ineffectual. Let us 
make no mistake. The real danger to popular government lies in 
the Judas kiss of its professed friends, with the passwords of democ- 
racy on their lips, perfidious legislative " jokers " in their hands, 
the golden shekels of plutocracy in their pockets, and treason to the 
people in their hearts. 

Voters of Illinois, send as representatives to the legislature in the 
future only men whose record in the past and whose attitude at 
present make them stand out, like Caesar's wife, as absolutely above 



THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 7 

suspicion in their loyal and whole-hearted devotion to the principle 
of real and effective popular sovereignty. 

It is this feature of the Swiss Republic — the power of the people 
to thwart all legislation destructive of their best interests and to 
enact into law any and all measures that will minister to their wel- 
fare — which is the kill and cure of corruption in politics. It is this 
feature which has made the statesmanship of Switzerland at once 
conservative and constructive, which has in truth made this little 
mass of mountains, forests, and lakes the " model republic of the 
world." 

A striking illustration of the value of this institution came a week 
or so later when I went to Interlaken. There I met a Yale student, a 
native of Connecticut, who had never seen anything higher than the 
Berkshire Hills. Very early in our acquaintance I discovered in him 
a constitutional prejudice against certain categories of ideas which 
he termed " advanced,** and especially against any suggestion that 
squinted in the direction of an extension of the sphere of government. 
This feeling of his gave rise to some very interesting discussions 
and amusing episodes. I recall one especially memorable conversa- 
tion. He had become so enthusiastic over the Swiss mountains, 
lakes, and people that he actually proposed establishing himself 
permanently in the country. 

" I will offer you," I said. " the same advice that Punch gave to 
a man about to be married — ' don't ! ' If you feel that you have 
outgrown New England, you" are ready for the West. There you will 
meet kindred spirits, graduates from every State in the East." 

" What part of the countn 7 are you from ? " 

" I am from the heart of the countrv — the great Mississippi 
Valley." 

" You don't mean to say." he broke forth, " that you are from the 
region where the Progressives. Brvan Democrats, and Populists hail 
from?" 

" I am from the region which started the struggle for the freedom 
of the slave, and which has generally been in the van of the forces 
which have been fighting the fight of the people against organized 
greed." 

" But didn't I understand that you were a Harvard man. and that 
you have been studying politics abroad for several years? " 

I nodded an affirmative. 

" Surely," he continued, with a gleam of hope in his eye, " you 
don't believe in those half-baked, a million times exploded socialistic 
vagaries of the government-ownership cranks? " 

" For instance ? " 

" Oh, government railroads and telegraphs, state monopoly of 
liquor, and all that other balderdash you hear from the people who 
know nothing of economics or " 

" Listen for an instant." I replied. " Did you know that the 
government- ownership cranks are in control of Switzerland? " 

" Go ahead," he responded. " amuse yourself ! If you get dangerous 
I'll have you taken to a hospital." 

"Do you see that man? " I said, pointing to a Herculean figure 
just entering the smoking room. " That is Herr Z , a Swiss cap- 
tain of industry. He is now engaged in one of the most remarkable 



8 THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 

engineering feats of modern times — building a railroad up the Jung- 
frau. I had a most interesting conversation with him the other day. 
Would you like to meet him ? " 

He assented, and we approached the Swiss magnate. After pre- 
senting him I said, " Herr Z , does Switzerland own her own tele- 
graphs, telephones, and railroads? " 

" Yes, sir." 

" Does the Government manage an express company and diligence 
lines in connection with the post office? " 

" Yes, yes ! But why do you ask ? " 

"And does the Government have a monopoly on spirits, and is it 
contemplating one on tobacco? Does it have an inheritance and in- 
come tax, the initiative and referendum, and proportional representa- 
tion?" 

" Of course, we have all these institutions, and more," said Herr 
Z , " but why do you ask ? Surely you knew this before ? " 

" Yes ; but I am sorry to say that here is a young man to whom all 
this is not only unexpected, but startling. Tell us, then, has experi- 
ence proved that it is best for the Government to own and control 
these natural monopolies? " 

" If not, we should not be continually adding new ones as fast as 
they become monopolies. This plan is a complete success — it is bene- 
ficial to rich and poor alike. The only ones injured are those who try 
to make illegitimate monopoly profits. It checkmates their game to 
the advantage of all legitimate business." 

" But does not this system develop much rascality and rottenness 
among Government officials ? " 

" Not at all. Most decidedly no. Corruption in politics, wherever 
it exists on a large scale, is chiefly the result of powerful private 
monopolies influencing to their own advantage the affairs of state. 
There is but one remedy for this: Monopoly control of Government 
must give way to Government ownership and control of monopolies. 
But this is not the whole story. This method works well because our 
officials are honest, partly because there are no great private monop- 
olies here attempting to influence them, and partly because in this 
country the politicians have but a limited control of the Government. 
If politicians were allowed to run the Government here, as they do 
in many other countries, the advent of Government ownership would 
mean merely a change from monopolistic control of politicians to 
politician control of monopolies. But this vicious circle has been 
avoided, because in Switzerland, with the people themselves, lies final 
jurisdiction." 

I thanked him while the Yale graduate departed to walk off an 
attack of acute mental indigestion. 

At Basle, a few days later, my Yale friend proposed that we get 
some Cook's circular tickets and devote a fortnight to making a 
grand tour of Switzerland. 

" Cook's tickets," he explained, " will be not only cheaper than 
tickets bought from place to place, but also much less troublesome. 
And do not overlook the fact," he added, as he started for Cook's 
office, " that this is an instance of a private company improving on 
the arrangements of your government railroads." 

" Don't get any ticket for me," I shouted after him. for. in spite 
of a sneaking feeling that he was right, I determined not to give in 



THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 9 

until I had played my last card. Hastening down to the station I 
discovered not only that the Government sold circular tickets at 
reduced rates, but that it had recently introduced a new form of 
ticket, called an " abonnement general," good for continuous travel 
during two weeks, a month, or six weeks, on all main railroad and 
steamship lines in the country. I gleefully bought a second-class 
15-day abonnement for $11 and hastened back to the hotel, where I 
found my friend so pleased with his circular ticket, for which he 
had paid about one-third more, that I hadn't the heart to say any- 
thing about my own purchase. 

When our tickets were examined on the train he glanced at mine 
in an inquiring sort of way, but I merely remarked that I had got 
hold of a new combination and would know after a few days' trial 
whether or not it was a success. At Lucerne, where we took a boat 
ride up and down the lake several times just for the lazy delightful- 
ness of the trip, he seemed annoyed at always having to pay while 
my ticket gave me the right to ride whenever I liked " without 
money and without price." At Rorschack, on Lake Constance, 
where we made a little side trip to St. Gall and Appenzell before 
going up to the Falls on the Rhine, again he appeared suddenly dis- 
concerted at being obliged to pay the regular fare while I, like a 
railroad magnate traveling on a pass, had to give the conductor 
only a glimpse of my magical abonnement. The climax came, how- 
ever, when on our return to Basle we decided to go over to Arolla 
for a month's mountain climbing. The discovery that I still had 
time to make the trip before the expiration of my ticket whereas his 
carfare would amount to about $5 made him too furious for words. 

While talking over this trip with the hotel porter he found that 
by sending our baggage straight through to Arolla we could go by 
rail and steamer to Frutigen, thence on foot over the Gemmi Pass 
to the baths of Leuk. and from there on again by diligence, rail, and 
our own feet to Arolla. 

" It will cost about $10," he told me, " to express both trunks and 
our three valises to Arolla, but I believe the trip will be worth it." 

When the porter, after attending to the shipping, presented us 
with a bill for $2.85 the Yale man suggested that there must be some 
mistake. " Didn't I tell you," he demanded, " to send our baggage 
to the Hotel Mont Collon at Arolla in the Valais ? " 

" Yes," said the porter ; " and so I did." 

" But," he urged, " it takes about 10 hours by train, 6 hours by 
diligence, and 2J hours by mule to get to Arolla. Do you mean to 
tell me that the express company charges only $2.85 for transporting 
that mass of baggage up there ? " 

" Don't worry him," I said ; " you forget that here we are not being 
robbed by an express company, as is our custom at home, but. are 
being served by that wonderful institution, the Swiss Postal De- 
partment." 

After our descent from Arolla on several occasions I invited him 
to go with me to investigate the workings of the cantonal and fed- 
eral institutions. At Glaurus we went to see the Government salt 
mines, and at other places inspected Government coal mines, cement 
factories, gunpowder factories, etc. ; but he never became enthusiastic 
over these trips, seeming at once to lose all interest in an enterprise 
when he learned that it was managed by the Government. 



10 THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 

One day we started from Martigny to walk across the Tete Xoir 
to Chamonix, meaning to return in two days and go on with our 
party to Zermatt, but the air was so exhilarating and the mountains 
so enticing that we could not resist the temptation to spend two or 
three days climbing the smaller peaks in the vicinity of Mount Blanc. 
We had left behind both our letters of credit^ and when finally we 
were able to tear ourselves away and had paid our guide, our porter, 
and our hotel bills we suddenly discovered that we had barely 
enough money left to get us to Geneva. On arriving there we were 
on the point of wiring our friends at Martigny for funds when we 
saw a pawnshop, and my friend rushed in and pawned a diamond 
scarfpin. 

" I suppose this is the last of my pin," he said as he came out, 
" but it was the easiest and quickest way to get the money." 

As we were passing through Geneva the following week he stopped 
and redeemed the pin. The fee was so ridiculously small that he felt 
called upon to expostulate, though not perhaps so profanely as he 
did when bills were too large. The attendant looked at him pity- 
ingly and said : " Young man, we are here to serve the public, not to 
take advantage of its necessities. You have paid the regular fee. 
I have nothing to do with the charge; this is a Government insti- 
tution." 

He sneaked out and said nothing, but I could see that he was verv 
" hard hit." 

A month or so later, finding ourselves in Zurich, we went to see 
one of the famous " relief stations," where men who are tramping 
from town to town looking for work find clean quarters, a wholesome 
moral atmosphere, and nourishing food, all at no cost. There are 36 
such stations in the canton of Zurich alone, all supported at the 
public expense. 

The place seemed quite as comfortable as our Salvation Army 
lodging houses, and its inmates apparently were an honest, self- 
respecting lot, who regarded the station not as a charitable institu- 
tion but as a very proper convenience provided by a wise Govern- 
ment for the unemployed members of its industrial arm} 7 . Some of 
them were young fellows taking advantage of this opportunity to 
see the world, to learn some new tricks in their trades, and to prospect 
for better paying jobs; others were men in the prime of life, genuine 
" out of works " anxiously looking for regular employment : while 
still others belonged to the class of grizzled veterans of industry who, 
being a little the worse for the wear, invariably are the first to be 
laid on the shelf in times of economic depression. 

I asked one of them if he had ever been in a labor colony. ,w No," 
he said, flushing slightly, " it may some time come to that, but when 
I get too old to keep my place in the ranks I hope with the aid of 
my children that I shall be able to get a little truck farm. Labor 
colonies are places where those of us who have failed, but who are not 
yet quite ready for the scrap heap or the bone pile, are enabled to 
contribute somewhat to their own support. They are a mild form of 
charity, but their inmates none the less are paupers." 

There is a free employment bureau in each station, and the man- 
agement is authorized to supply clothes and shoes to those in dire 
need. In some cases it gives to men who are completely " broke " 



THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 11 

50 or 75 cents for use in case of an emergency. When any of them 
are ill, they are sent at once to the splendid public hospitals. 

" Doesn't this sort of thing have a tendency to encourage idleness 
and thrif tlessness ? " I asked of the superintendent. 

" Not at all," he replied ; " in fact, quite the contrary. We are most 
careful to discriminate between the worker and the bum. The whole 
mission of these stations is, by putting the men in the way of taking 
care of themselves, to keep the temporarily idle worker from degen- 
erating into a bum. Every lodger is required to show his ' traveling 
warrant,' a sort of industrial passport which is stamped and dated at 
each station, thus preserving a complete record of each man's move- 
ments. Anyone who has had no work for three months or who re- 
fuses to work or who has no ' traveling warrant ' is relegated imme- 
diately to th'e workhouse. Moreover, as a rule, no one is allowed 
to stop at the same station more than once in six months." 

At Geneva we called on M. Jean Sigg, the Genevan representative 
of the federal workingmen's secretary, an official who is paid by the 
Government and elected by the labor unions. This secretary has 
done much good work in a variety of ways, such as collecting statis- 
tics, advising the unions as well as their individual members, and 
helping to settle labor troubles by arbitration. We discussed with 
M. Sigg the interesting experiments which have been carried on in 
several cantons with insurance against lack of employment. He said 
the results had not yet been decisive for or against the system. 

" In addition to all these palliative measures," he continued, " Swit- 
zerland, by constantly increasing its facilities for technical education, 
has been increasing the industrial efficiency of its workers and de- 
creasing their liability to loss of employment; but we feel that if 
there is any one lesson which our varied experience teaches us, it is 
this — that only by solving the greater problems of the organization of 
industry and the distribution of wealth can the question of the un- 
employed be effectually disposed of. This question is but an outward 
symptom of a deep-seated social disease ; the exploitation by one man 
of another, or, in its aggravated form, the exploitation of all men 
by huge soulless corporate monsters. When once we have healed 
ourselves of this dread disease, quickly the army of unemployed, with 
all its camp followers of vice and crime, will fold its tents and silently 
steal away, and its departure this time will be final." 

During the latter part of the summer the Yale man never seemed 
to tire of questioning all sorts and conditions of men about the prac- 
tical workings of Swiss institutions. On one occasion he unearthed 
a perfect mine of information by cross-examining a Swiss fellow 
traveler while going from Geneva to Berne. "Tell me," he de- 
manded, " your "telephone and telegraph service is cheap and your 
express charges, diligence, steamer, and railroad fares are low. But 
we are told by many college professors and most newspapers and 
magazines in America that were our Government to enter business, 
not being as economical and sagacious as a private company, it must 
do one of two things — give inferior service at high rates or run at a 
loss and make up the deficit in taxes. Your Government service is 
excellent ; your rates are low. Do you have a yearly deficit ? " 

" True, our rates are low and our service good," answered the 
Swiss, " and once in a great while some branch of the Government 



12 THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 

service has a deficit. This is advertised abroad with the greatest 
publicity by private companies to discourage Government enterprises 
elsewhere. But, on the average, our Government enterprises make a 
handsome profit and lessen our taxes enormously." 

" Well and good," interrupted the Yale man doggedly, " with some 
of your Government concerns, but you will hardly pretend, I think, 
to be proud of the fact that your Government helps pay your taxes 
from the profits of an alcohol monopoly; it is the devil's own 
business." 

" But our Government does nothing of the kind," said the other ; 
" the profits from the sale of alcohol do not replace taxes, but are 
divided among the Cantons and are added to the existing educational 
funds, and a goodly percentage each year is devoted to fighting in- 
temperance or to charities made necessary by intemperance. The 
result has been that since the advent of the Government monopoly, 
December 23, 1886, the consumption of alcohol has fallen off 40 per 
cent. The object of this Government monopoly is, indeed, not reve- 
nue, for Switzerland stands unique among the nations of the world 
in this, that, far from going deeper in debt every year, she holds 
property, on January 1, 1913, called the Federal fortune, amounting 
to 241,144,619 francs, or $48,228,924. Her national debt 1 is onlv 
125,069,774 francs, or $25,013,955, leaving a Federal fortune free and 
clear of 116074,845 francs, or $23,214,969. In addition to this the sep- 
arate Cantons, communes, and municipalities have fortunes amount- 
ing up into the millions." 

All this, I thought, in a country which, as some one has said, " is 
the poorest in Europe from the standpoint of natural advantages." 

Some of the Swiss towns are so rich that they levy no taxes; and at 
Buchs, in St. Gall, in addition to this exemption, every citizen re- 
ceives gratis more than an acre of land which he may cultivate, fire- 
wood for the winter, and grazing ground for several cattle. The 
town of Soleme, in Schaffhausen, has forests, pastures, and cultivated 
lands worth about 6,000,000 francs. The Canton of Obwald, with 
15,000 inhabitants, has lands and forests valued at 11.350,000 francs. 
These instances could be multiplied almost indefinitely, for nearly 
every commune and Canton has public lands. The important fact, 
however, is not that the Swiss governments, National. State, and 
municipal, are wealthy, but that the wealth of the country is so 
diffused among the people that, roughly speaking, two-thirds of the 
heads of families are agricultural landholders. 

That evening as we were having a quiet smoke the Yale man re- 
opened the discussion. " I have been carrying on some investigations 
of my own," he said, " and I have discovered that, in spite of all the 
admirable features connected with the Swiss form of government, 
there is one very undesirable feature which the Swiss, like the rest of 
us, seem unable to get rid of." 

"And what is that?" 

"Bosses," he replied pensively, rather than triumphantly, for in- 
sensibly of late he had been assuming a more sympathetic attitude 
toward Swiss political institutions. "From what I can learn, every 

ir rhis docs not Include the railroad debt, which is being liquidated automatically every 
vein- from i in' Del profits or die roads, and which is more than counterbalanced by the 
-yaffie of the railroads themselves. 



THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 13 

city and Canton has its political boss, who dominates the party, and 
through it dominates the municipality or Canton, just as our bosses 
rule our cities and States at home. Human nature is human nature 
after all, no matter what political methods are employed. Men love 
to be led, and, so far as I can see, the rank and file of the voters are 
led around by the nose here, just as they are in every other so-called 
' self-governing ' country in the world." 

" I would not for a moment attempt to deny that there is a good 
deal of truth in what you say," I responded, " but I think perhaps 
you have overlooked an important distinction. With one or two ex- 
ceptions Swiss political leaders, or ' bosses,' as you call them, have 
gained their ascendancy, as have Bryan, Roosevelt, La Follette, and 
Wilson, principally by the ability and desire they have shown to 
serve the people and only secondarily by their efficiency in building 
up strong political organizations. Nearly all the political leaders of 
all political parties in Switzerland are of this type, so far as I have 
been able to discover. The Croker-Platt type, which robs or betrays 
the people in order to enrich itself and its friends, is not to be found 
anywhere in Switzerland except in the Canton of Fribourg. There 
they have a political ' boss ' of the true American type; but, on the 
other hand, Fribourg is the only Canton in Switzerland which has 
no initiative and referendum. This difference, you will see, is abso- 
lutely fundamental. 

" But let me make myself plain on another point," I continued. 
" I do not harbor the delusion that Switzerland is a paradise. It is 
true that the Swiss have less grinding poverty and less vice per capita 
than any other country in the world, with the possible exception of 
New Zealand ; yet one finds numbers of poor people, lazy people, and 
dishonest people^ as well as much drunkenness, in Switzerland. 
While it is evident the Swiss have disposed of many problems which 
at present are perplexing the rest of the world, it is equally evident 
that they have many serious problems still confronting them. Will 
they be able to solve these problems? I do not know. Will they 
continue to progress in the future as they have in the past? I hope 
so; but even more do I hope that the United States and the rest of 
the world will be able to put to practical use the splendid discoveries 
which the Swiss already have made in the realm of statecraft." 

" Curious, isn't it," mused my compatriot between puffs at his pipe ; 
"the Swiss are the only people in the world with a larger capital 
than their indebtedness, and yet," he exclaimed, suddenly rising and 
speaking with great earnestness, " what does that amount to ? Their 
greatest capital is in the civic sagacity, civic energy, and civic purity 
of their citizens. Most of their voters have made politics their busi- 
ness, and statesmanlike politics has made of every legitimate business 
a success. I am very much tempted when I get home to go in for 
politics myself. 

" Switzerland has perhaps more numerous Government activities," 
he continued, " and yet less ' paternalism ' than any country in the 
world. I could not understand this for a long time, but that was 
because I had not yet achieved the national point of view. Accord- 
ing to that view, the people, by means of the initiative and refer- 
endum, are the Government, and consequently whatever it does for 
them is self-help and not ' paternalism.' Switzerland has worked out 



14 THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM IN SWITZERLAND. 

not only a successful political democracy but also to a certain extent 
a successful industrial democracy. It lias only one or two lonesome 
little corporation-owned ' bosses ' and no Napoleons of finance, no oil 
kings, no robber coal barons." 

I was so astonished I could only grasp his hand. 

iC If the American people," he continued, " could see what I have 
seen this summer — progressive democracy in practice — they could 
not fail to realize that our present era of corporation regulation is 
of interest chiefly as the precursor of a more fundamental and ra- 
tional regime of gradually and conservatively worked out social 
reconstrllction. ,, 

o 



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